2013 Joe Catholic Blogathon WordCloud

Word cloud made with WordItOut

Sts. Peter & Paul

Today we celebrate the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul.

I have a personal fondness for these two saints because their lives demonstrate how God can work wonders even with the most unworthy of instruments. This gives me hope.

St. Paul - The Zealot
I have had a devotion to St. Paul since I watched the ABC made-for-TV mini-series Peter and Paul, starring Anthony Hopkins as St. Paul. I have since enjoyed having the opportunity to proclaim St. Paul's writings when I read at Mass. I still imagine Hopkin's portrayal as I prepare to read.

Two things that stand out about St. Paul as an example for us. First, he was a Jewish zealot intent on destroying the early Christians. He was even complicit in the death of St. Stephen. Nevertheless, the LORD forgave Paul and used him as the great Apostle to the Gentiles.

St. Peter - The Fisherman
I also love the portrayal of Peter in The Passion of the Christ. In the opening scene in the garden, Peter, as in the gospels, attacks the soldiers and cuts the ear off of one of them. Peter is portrayed as a strong (he would have to be to be a fisherman) manly man. Later we see him in his humility fall to knees and beg Our Lady for forgiveness because he had denied our Lord. I believe that scene also depicts Peter's manliness.

One other observation I would like to share about St. Peter is about him being a fishermen. It strikes me that wasn't easy work. The men were manly men who probably swore on occasion and dirt under their nails. If you've ever watched the Deadliest Catch, you probably have an idea of what I am talking about. The point I want to make about this is that, God didn't call special people to be His followers. Instead, he called ordinary people to do extraordinary things through Him and with Him.

Video from Apostleship of Prayer

To learn more, I recommend reading EWTN's entries on St. Peter and St. Paul.

New Evangelization: Simple Ways To Witness

New Evangelization
A key component of the new evangelization is that of meeting the spiritual and temporal needs of the people precisely where they are. The underlying message is the same: a call to holiness in and through a relationship with Jesus Christ. In other words, it is new only in the sense that it makes use of new methodes of reaching the faithful. Pope John Paul II’s pontificate was indeed a model of the New Evangelization with his many travels and his use of the available communications technology of his day. This has even laid the foundation for evangelization in the world of social media. Practically speaking, this also means we need to be prepared to witness to those we encounter in our everyday, ordinary lives. Mother Theresa put it this way: "You are called to blossom where you have been planted."

Sign of the Cross

I grew with the tradition of making the sign of the cross every time you passed a Catholic Church. I always associated it with a sign of respect. When I came back to the Church, I read an article in which the author was advocating the return to this tradition as a sign of acknowledging the true presence of Christ in the Blessed Sacrament contained in each tabernacle. While I was recently visiting family, I was in the car with them when we passed a Catholic Church. I "signed" myself and  silently prayed a Spiritual Communion Prayer. One of my family members asked me why and it gave me an opportunity to explain why. It also began a discussion on the true presence in the Eucharist.

Original Catholic Cap

One morning recently, I had to go to Wal-Mart to pick up a few items for a trip I was taking. While I was putting the groceries in the back of my car, a young man in a wheel chair came up to take my cart. He saw I was wearing an Original Catholic baseball cap and asked me where I bought it. This led to a discussion about Catholicism and the priesthood.

Grace Before Meals

I work at a small magnet school and during lunch our entire faculty eats at one large wooden, last supper table in our presentation room. Years ago when I had just come back to the Church, I began praying grace before all my meals. I wasn't loud. In fact, I mostly whispered the prayer to myself, but did not hide that I was praying over my food because I would always conclude with a sign of the Cross. A year or so later one of my colleagues approached me and said, "Don, I have come back to the Catholic Church because of you." I must have given her a strange look and then said, "I don't understand. What did I do?" She said seeing me pray everyday made her realize that she needed to get back to the Church. God then used that simple act to move her heart, to bring her back to the Church. She has since brought back her entire family into the Church and they are all actively involved in their parishes.

Always Be Ready
The point I am trying to make with these three simple examples is that we should always be ready to witness to others. We don't have to do anything dramatic. We don't have to beat anyone over the head with a Bible or Catechism. We just have to be willing and able to share our faith.

Meet Pope Francis

Here's a great little video about Pope Francis from CatholicLink:

More on Pope Francis:

• Francis: Pope of a New World, Tornielli, Andrea
• Pray for Me: The Life and Spiritual Vision of Pope Francis, First Pope from the Americas, Moynihan, Robert

How I Met St. Josemaría Escrivá

Saint of the Ordinary
Today the Church celebrates the feast of St. Josemaría Escrivá, founder of Opus Dei and patron of those who suffer with diabetes. Pope John Paul II referred to St. Josemaría during his canonization mass as the "saint of the ordinary life." St. Josemaría's primary message was twofold: 1) we are all God's children and 2) that all are called to be holy, not just priests, nuns and other religious orders. This may seem common to us who have grown up in the post Vatican II era, but it was a radical departure from the clericalism that dominated Catholicism in Europe in the late 1920's. In addition to his work with Opus Dei, St. Josemaría,  whose last name sounds like the Spanish word "to write," was an prolific writer. His most popular works include The Way, The Forge and The Furrow. All of these, in addition to copies of many of his homilies, can be found online at Escriva Works or can be purchased at Scepter Publishers.

The Way
Ten years ago, I just attended a CRHP (Christ Renews His Parish) retreat weekend and I was now in the post-retreat formation process. I had discerned a call to be the Lay Director for the team although I was woefully unqualified. God DOES have a sense of humor. In order to prepare for all the formation meetings, which I had to facilitate, I began doing a great amount of research on the spiritual topics. During this process, I kept coming across the writings of St. Josemaría Escrivá. He was quoted in a number of Catholic websites and I even heard EWTN speakers refer to him. When I Googled his name, I discovered he was the founder of Opus Dei. The only thing I had heard about the group at that time had been the recent interest stimulated by the Dan Brown book in March of 2003.

I Want to See the Nuns
Nearly a year after CRHP, I was about to have another encounter with St. Josemaría that would convince me that I had to find out more about him. One night I fell asleep while watching EWTN and I had forgotten to set the TV timer to SLEEP mode. In the middle of the night, actually it was early in the morning – I remember it as 3AM – Stacey woke me up. At first I thought she was going to gripe at me for forgetting to set the timer. Instead, she had awakened to see the image of Our Lady of Angels’ Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Alabama. EWTN was advertising pilgrimage information to the Shrine. Making sure I was awake, Stacey said, “I want to go see the nuns.” Stacey had never seen nuns in person. I vaguely remember mumbling, “OK.” What man is going to deny his wife an opportunity to go on pilgrimage and to see nuns?

Go For Her

The Saturday we were in Alabama we had decided to sleep in and not go to daily Mass at EWTN's chapel because we were tired from Friday's visit to the Shrine.  Furthermore, neither of us could receive Communion because we were still in an irregular marriage. My plans to sleep in were thwarted because I was awakened from my sleep by the clear voice of a Spanish speaking man who said "Go for her." The TV was not on nor was the clock radio. If it was a dream, it was very vivid. Nevertheless, I got up out of the hotel bed and I drove to Irondale to attend Mass at the EWTN Chapel that gets broadcasted everyday. I discovered during the homily that it was the feast day of St. Josemaría. 

St. Josemaría Pray for Me
At the end of Mass, I stuck around in the chapel and prayed. Specifically, I asked St. Josemaría to pray for us, that our marriage be validated. Despite being told, it might take another year and half for the tribunal to make a decision, we received word shortly after our pilgrimage that we were free to have our marriage validated. The Monday after our convalidation ceremony, I contacted the Opus Dei center in Dallas. Not a day goes by that I don't ask St. Josemaría to pray for me and my family. I've learned much from him about answering the call to holiness and to the work of apostolate. More importantly, he has helped me begin to fully understand what it means to be a child of God.

Catholic Principle of Subsidiarity

A Working Definition
Subsidiarity is not a word we generally here in our every day vernacular. The short definition of the term is that it is the opposite of centrality. More specifically, the term refers to the principle that governing entities -- in this case the Church -- should defer to the smallest governing authority, which often means the most local authority, to deal with whatever needs to be addressed. Catholic Culture gives a clear and concise explanation: "This principle holds that human affairs are best handled at the lowest possible level, closest to the affected persons."

Grass Roots v.s. Top Down
Most people, including Catholics, are unaware of this principle. Instead, they view the Church as this hierarchical institution led from the top down. While there is certain truth to that assumption, most of the daily operations of the Church are left to the local parish and its pastor. Most of the action takes place at the grass roots level.

Responsibility and Charity

Importance of Subsidiarity
According to Parish in Catholic Tradition: History, Theology, and Canon Law:

[T]he most important of all the church’s social teachings for the identity of the local church is the principle of subsidiarity. It means that local communities, those made up of individual human persons, like parishes, must be respected and allowed a maximum of self-determination (Coriden, 1998, p. 56).

Blessed Pope John Paul II wrote in his encyclical One Hundredth Year:

[H]ere again the principle of subsidiarity must be respected: A community of higher order should not interfere in the internal life of a community of a lower order, depriving the latter of its functions, but rather should support it in case of need and help to coordinate its activity with the activities of the rest of society, always with a view to the common good (CA 48).

The Bishop's Ear
My favorite display of this principle took place while I was in Rome a few years ago on a pilgrimage with the Ft. Worth Diocese. One evening a few of us were gathered in the lobby of our hotel, winding down from a long day in Rome. Bishop Kevin Vann (who was then the bishop of the Fort Worth diocese) was returning from dinner and sat down and talked to us. One of the members of our parish, +Greg Young, took advantage of the opportunity of having the bishop's ear and asked him a few questions. One in particular, had to do with the everyday operations of our parish. Bishop Vann made it very clear that most of those types of decisions are made by the local parish priest, that the role of the bishop is not to micro-manage, but to offer guidance.

Additional Resources
For additional study on the principle of subsidiarity I recommend Parish in Catholic Tradition, taking a look at sections 1882-1883 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church and the Canon Lawyer's Blog post on Subsidiarity.

Preaching Friars' Video

St. John the Baptist

St. John the Baptist by El Greco

Only Saint's Birthday Celebrated
Today we celebrate the Solemnity of the Birth of John the Baptist. According to St. Augustine, John the Baptist is the only saint whose birthday is celebrated by the Church (Sermon 293, 1). The Church selected June 24th as his birthday celebration because scripture accounts that John was six month older than his cousin, Jesus. St. John was born to Elizabeth and Zechariah who, like Abram and Sarah, were up in their years when he was conceived and born. John is significant in salvation history because he is the last of the Old Testament prophets; he is the "dividing line" between the Old Testament and the New Testament.

Catholic Haiku
Today is one of the theme days for the WordCount Blogathon. Today we were asked to write a haiku poem. Here is my haiku on St. John the Baptist as inspired by the three readings from today's lectionary:

God called me from birth.

Servant of the Lord, am I.

LORD, you are my strength. 

I prepared Thy way

Preaching, “Repent, be baptized

For He is coming.”

Mother named me John

Hand of the Lord upon me

And with His Spirit

He Must Increase

God Uses Us Even in the Strangest of Settings

Editors Note: Ok, before you leave and think I have lost my mind, please let me explain that the picture is indeed relevant to today's guest post from my wife, Stacey. She is a convert to Catholicism and joined me this year in participating in the Blogathon. In honor of her birthday today, I am posting her God moment from a few weeks ago that I think displays that we always have opportunities to be witnesess of faith; we just have to be ready for the moment. This was previously published on her blog. Happy Birthday Mo! 
*******************************************************
God uses us.

Ten Minute Wait
I placed my order and knew it would be a 10 minute wait, so I ordered a beer. Bottled beer because I knew I could drink it in within 10 minutes. Out of lack of better options, Michelob Ultra was my selection.

Nice and Smooth

Waiting for my food I drank. Suddenly behind me I hear “Ultra, that’s a great beer isn’t it? Nice and smooth.” I turned to see a woman around my age talking to me. I tried to give short answers and kept turning back to my almost empty bottle but she kept talking.

Death of a Daughter
Finally, I turned and we had a conversation. She was about to complete her final graduate classes at Texas Women's University in – Family Services. She wasn’t sure what she would use the degree for, but she had already put the knowledge to use. The day before marked the 2-year anniversary of her daughter’s passing. She talked about how her daughter has been misdiagnosed with HPV – when her Uterine artery ruptured they discovered it was actually cervical cancer. They were able to stop the massive bleeding and she lived for 7 more weeks. She had strokes and her kidneys shut down. 7 weeks of this woman watching her beautiful and amazing daughter suffer until she finally passed away.

Working for Christ
She mentioned that had this been a year earlier, she would not have been able to get through a conversation about it. I asked if this was her only child, she said no. She has a 17 year old about to graduate from Flower Mound and is going to spend her summer working at the Fellowship Church in Grapevine’s camp. She is a musician and artist and loves working for Christ. I told her about my amazing daughter, Tiffany, and her work with Campus Crusade for Christ. I told her to have her daughter check out CRU and the opportunities they have for discipleship in other countries and here in America.

A Hug and Goodbye
My number is called, my order is ready. I don’t want to leave – I want to sit down and have a beer with this woman and learn more about her. But since neither of us had ordered just for ourselves, I knew that wouldn’t be possible. I wanted to hug her, but she asked me if she could hug me. My response, “of course!” I feel terrible that I cannot remember her name, but I will never forget her face. My angel who reminded me of how much I love my children and how proud I am of all of them.

St. Thomas More:Patron of Lawyers and Politicians

Sir Thomas More by Hans Holbein the Younger

Feast Day
Today we celebrate the feast of St. Thomas More, patron of lawyers and politicians. You might be familiar with his story from the well known movie A Man for All Seasons, available for free viewing to Prime members on Amazon. The future saint would not compromise his moral and religious beliefs for political favor with King Henry VIII and it cost him his life.  This nation needs more lawyers and politicians like St. Thomas More who once said, "What does it avail to know that there is a God, which you not only believe by Faith, but also know by reason: what does it avail that you know Him if you think little of Him?"

Catholics in Politics
We currently have six (6) "Catholics" that sit on the Supreme Court – a clear majority – but not all allow their Catholicity to be the framework or moral compass in which to make decision. The Vice President and Speaker of the House are Catholic. Countless other elected officials across the land are Catholic, yet many continue to hide behind the secularist mantra of "I personally believe X, but I don't think I should impose my views on others." Still others, openly defy the Church's teachings on such important issues like the sanctity of life, the sacramentality of marriage and the protection of religious freedom.

Fortnight for Freedom
As we enter the fourth day of the Fortnight for Freedom, let's consider what we can do to help educate everyday, ordinary Catholics about what it is we believe. Why we believe it. And why it is our responsibility to vote according to our well formed consciences. In addition to taking action, we need to pray. We can start by asking St. Thomas More to intercede on our behalf that our politicians may be guided by the Holy Spirt to have a conversion of heart and mind.

Be Not Afraid: God is Always Present

Broken Tooth
I missed a Joe Catholic gathering I was supposed to lead a few weeks ago because I broke a tooth and I was intense pain. After jumping through all the insurance hoops, I was finally scheduled to see an oral surgeon to extract the tooth this morning. The above meme is how I expected things to go. I was very wrong.

Be Not Afraid
Yesterday afternoon, I was sorting out winter and summer clothes when I came across my black Xtreme Papa t-shirt that has the JP2 quotation "Be Not Afraid," which were the first words of his pontificate. I thought it was fortuitous in light of the fact that I was facing the dentist in the morning. Today, Stacey and I headed out to the oral surgeon's office and prayed Rosary on the way. I secretly asked St. Apollonia (patron of toothaches and dentists) for her intercession to guide the surgeon and to ease my anxiety. I was covering all my bases.

What Church Do You Attend?
After Dr. Walstad gave me the shots to numb my mouth near the tooth, he asked me what church I attended. I told him St. Catherine of Siena. He said he used to attend the parish at one time and still knew some of the members. He even mentioned some names of people I also knew. As he was pulling out my tooth he talked to me about his parish, St. Jude in Allen, Texas. We talked (I mostly listened and mumbled) about the Knights of Columbus, CRHP and the upcoming Dallas Diocese Capital Campaign. Before I knew it, the tooth was pulled and the wound prepped for my departure. We continued to talk about Catholicism for a few more minutes after the procedure.

God Was Looking Out for Me
As Stacey and I got in the car to head back home, I asked her, "What are the odds that I get a Catholic dentist who is open about talking about his faith?" I am sure that the t-shirt helped initiate the conversation. All I know is that God was looking out for me, because I didn't stress at all while I was having my tooth pulled. God is always present. We needn't be afraid.

Fortnight for Freedom:Standing Up for Religious Freedom

Fortnight for Freedom

Tomorrow begins the second annual Fortnight for Freedom, which was initiated by the US Bishops. According to the USCCB the purpose of the Fortnight for Freedom is to promote:

[A] two-week period of prayer and action, to address many current challenges to religious liberty, including the August 1, 2013 deadline for religious organizations to comply with the HHS mandate, Supreme Court rulings that could attempt to redefine marriage in June, and religious liberty concerns in areas such as immigration and humanitarian services.

Threats to Freedom
The USCCB cites a list of threats to freedom. We are already seeing infringements take place and more are likely in the near future. In just last year and half we've seen a court rule that a Catholic diocese cannot enforce its moral criteria (not to mention the employment contract) in the hiring and firing of teachers. We've recently heard of the IRS targeting Catholic speakers and possibly Catholic institutions. The HHS mandate deadline (August 1st) for religious organizations to comply is looming.

According to Dr. Katrina Lantos Swett, the keynote speaker at the National Religous Freedom Award Dinner, the threats are real:

There is no doubt that religious freedom faces extraordinary and novel challenges that grow out of increasing and aggressive secularism, coupled with fundamental redefinitions of core social institutions. These changes are putting some religious communities on a collision course with newly emerging social concurrences on matters of morality, equality and how we define fundamental civil and human rights.

Answer the Call to Holiness

Universal Call to Holiness at National Shrine

The Laity
The laity makes up the largest group of the Church and its members are defined as those not ordained (CCC, 897; LG, 31). Many lay Catholics today have heard of “the universal call to holiness,” yet few know what this phrase means, let alone how to rightly pursue it in their daily lives. This is evident in the current mindset that says, “I love Jesus, but I just can’t buy into the teachings of the Church.” Mindful of this crisis of faith, Pope Benedict XVI instituted a Year of Faith, in which we have been instructed, among other things, to spend time reading the documents of Vatican II (Porta fidei, 5). In so doing we can discover what this call to holiness demands and what role the Church serves in helping us become sanctified, for indeed we are all “called to be saints” (Rom 1:7).

Pray, Pay and Obey

Ask a regular Joe fifty years ago what the role the laity served in the Catholic Church and you were likely to get an answer similar to this: "To pray, to pay and to obey." The fact is that many still fill that way, but Vatican II emphasized that we are ALL called to holiness – ordained and laity alike (LG, 40).

Holiness Defined
Holiness means to belong to God, to be in union with Him for holiness is an attribute of God. To be perfect, as God the Father is (Matt 5:48), requires that one be in unity with God. This is precisely what John the Baptist was articulating when he said “He must increase; I must decrease” (John 3:30). This means enjoining one’s will with the will of God. Thus the ultimate expression of one’s gift of free will is freely returning it to the Father. Then and only then can we say that it is not us who lives, but Christ Jesus who lives (Gal. 2:20). Put another way, holiness is the process of ongoing conversion towards this union with the Father, this relationship with the Holy Spirit, this friendship with Christ.

God Calls Us
God initiates this call to holiness, which is essentially a call to a relationship with him. Since God calls us, it must be possible to answer. In his love for us, God provides man with the tools for sanctification. Primary among these are the sacraments which all draw us closer to him by availing us to his grace. He also gives us the liturgy so that me might learn how to pray, the essential tool to develop our relationship with the Lord. He provides the faithful with role models to follow in the lives of the saints. Their lives provide evidence that answering the call to holiness is possible for all.

JP2 on Holiness...In His Own Words

Evernote Clearly

De-clutters Webpages
Recently I have been using Evernote Clearly quite a bit for working on papers and research for blog posts. This extension for Evernote allows you to de-clutter a webpage you are reading. It removes the header and side panel and ads. You can also customize the text as you see fit. What I like most about this little app is that it allows me to "cut evidence" for articles, organize them and retrieve them later. You can do this by exporting the article to a notebook in Evernote.  I've recently incorporated using it for the WordCount Blogathon.

Research Tool
I use Clearly most often as I am reading other Catholic blogs or websites. After I have isolated the article, I can clip it to one of my notebooks in Evernote to read later. This gives me an opportunity to gather topical articles in one place so that I can read them more analytically. Additionally, it makes it easier for me to read them on my iPad. First, because I don't have to be online to read the article and secondly because the formatting is easier to read once it has been clipped.

Read Later
As I alluded to above, one other good use for Clearly is to use it to clip and save articles to read later. I have way too much content in my RSS feed to read at one time. Truthfully, I may not want to read all of it. Clearly allows me to isolate those I identify as worthy of reading later on my iPad. I do this especially when I am about to head out to the doctor's office or another appointment where I may have to wait. Again this is particularly useful, if you don't know if you are going to have wifi available.

Here's a video tutorial on how to use Evernote Clearly.

Turn the Other Cheek

Turn the Other Cheek by CatholicMemes

Turn the Other Cheek
Today's Gospel reading from Matthew is the famous "turn the other cheek" message from Christ. I offer two commentaries on this passage. The first is from the Navarre Bible. The second is embedded video from the USCCB Daily Reflections.

Navarre Bible
According to the commentators of the Navarre Bible:

38-42. Among the Semites, from whom the Israelites stemmed, the law of vengeance ruled. It led to interminable strife, and countless crimes. In the early centuries of the chosen people, the law of retaliation was recognized as an ethical advance, socially and legally: no punishment could exceed the crime, and any punitive retaliation was outlawed. In this way, the honor of the clans and families was satisfied, and endless feuds avoided.

As far as New Testament morality is concerned, Jesus establishes a definitive advance: a sense of forgiveness and absence of pride play an essential role. Every legal framework for combating evil in the world, every reasonable defense of personal rights, should be based on this morality. The three last verses refer to mutual charity among the children of the Kingdom, a charity which presupposes and deeply imbues justice.

USCCB Daily Reflection
I included this video so that you could also see the quality of reflections offered daily. I highly recommend watching or listening to these after reading the daily readings as part of your daily spiritual plan of life. They are available at the USCCB site.

Fatherhood Stirs Conversion

Kevin playing with Max, our first dachshund's father

Years in the Desert
Although, I was raised in a strong Catholic home where both my parents attended Mass regularly,  I drifted away from my Catholic faith when I went to college. I did not set out to leave the Church. At first, I simply claimed driving back cross town to attend Mass at my old parish was too far. Then I complained that the Catholic Church near SMU was too old and stuffy. Finally, I asserted that the campus ecumenical chapel wasn't Catholic enough to hold a "real" Mass. If anyone ever asked, I would say I was still Catholic. Even my dog tags in the Army were imprinted with ROMAN CATHOLIC. Before I knew it, I had wandered away, lost in the desert of sin for nearly 20 years.

Finally Home
Fast forward past those twenty years and I found myself at St. Catherine of Siena parish in Carrollton, Texas. I had already been sporadically attending Mass at St. Anne's, which was located in another diocese and miles away from the home we were leasing at the time. I didn't know about St. Catherine's until I happened to drive by it one day by accident. When I walked into the church for the first time and shook Sonny Cruz's hand as he greeted me at the door, I knew I was home.  It was not long after that +Stacey Gonzalez and +Kevin Gonzalez joined me and would eventually go through RCIA.

Why Catholic?
I very quickly got involved in the parish life: first as a reader and eventually as an adult formation catechist. My return to the Church gained warp speed after attending the Christ Renews His Parish retreat. Eventually, this would influence the formation of Joe Catholic. About this time, our parish began participating in the small faith group program, Why Catholic? While we were sharing at one of these sessions, someone asked me (I think it was one of the discussion questions) what brought me back to the Catholic Church. I had never had a good answer for this. I would just say it was a gradual thing. The Holy Spirit must have inspired me that night because I identified the event with pinpoint precision. I said Kevin moving in with me and Stacey motivated me to change. I figured out that this boy was looking to me for spiritual and moral direction and I didn't have anything to share with him. I had to get working on me so I could be there for him.

Fatherhood Stirs Conversion
So there it is, just add water and instant family – instant fatherhood. When I realized I wasn't just playing house with Stacey, that we were now a family, I had to get serious about becoming a better person, to become a real man, a real father. The Holy Spirit was guiding me towards conversion. I didn't use these words at the time– but they are fitting now – I needed to become more like St. Joseph who was a just man, a righteous man. Like Joseph, I was asked to raise a son who was not my biological son and raise him as my own. Eventually – and only time will tell how good a job I've done – this meant teaching him about our faith and morals.

Here's Kevin now, giving a talk on the North American Martyrs at Joe Catholic earlier in the year.

What We Can Learn From Our Dogs

My Dogs: Hobbes (L) and Calvin (R)

Dog Days of Summer
I can tell that the dogs days of summer are about to arrive here in the DFW Metroplex. The weather creeped up near 100 this week. Coincidentally or not, the hottest day of the year was also my first full day of Summer break. During the early part of my break, I just try and unwind, which means I get to spend a great deal of time with my dogs - Calvin and Hobbes.

GoD and DoG
I've joked with Stacey before that sometimes Hobbes will give me this look that suggests he's thinking "you know DOG is GOD spelled backwards?" Lest we get into a discussion about the anthropomorphization of our pets, let me move on. I think there is much we can learn about our relationship with God from our dogs.

Loyalty
One reason I have always preferred dogs as pets, is that they are very loyal. Dogs are known to travel miles, over rough terrain to return to their families. Others have been known to guard over their owners when the person has been injured. In one particular case, a German shepherd continued to attend daily Mass.

Unconditional Love
The attribute that dogs display above all other animals is unconditional love. They seem to have an ability to forgive us when we come home late or accidentally step on their tails. They also have an innate way of knowing when we are sick or feeling down. On those days when I am not feeling well, Hobbes will come lay in my lap.

The Real Example
What our dogs can really teach us is obedience. A good dog will do what his human asks of him, often because he wants to please him. We could learn from that. How obedient are we to our Lord's will. I am not sure that we frequently find ourselves saying, "Not my will Lord, but yours." Or "I must decrease so that You may increase." In the end isn't that what holiness is – enjoining our will to the will of the Father?

The Role of the God-Parents

Miracle of Life
I was originally going to write a post about the Superman-Christ comparison that is floating around the blogosphere. I have tabled that idea for a few days. Not because I haven't seen the new movie, but because I have a new Godson. His name is Leighton Owen Romo. He was born at 10:05 A.M. yesterday morning and I got to hold him for the first time today.

There is nothing like holding a newborn baby to appreciate the miracle of life.

No More Debate
One of the reasons I decided to quit coaching debate was all the time it took away from family. I especially want to spend time with my Godchildren: Isabelle, Luke, Alexcia and now Leighton. I want them to grow up knowing that Stacey and I are there for them if they ever need us. In particular, I want them to grow up knowing we pray for them daily and that we take seriously the  role of being Godparents. According to the Catholic Education Center, a "godparent should be a trustworthy witness of the faith who will help the godchild attain salvation." The bottom line is our job is to help their parents get them to heaven. And since we don't have any grandchildren yet, we can spoil them a little bit too.

St. Anthony, Hammer of Heretics

St. Anthony of Padua by El Greco

Popular Saint
St. Anthony of Padua is one of the most beloved and popular saints in Catholic history. Known as the "hammer of the heretics," St. Anthony is often portrayed holding the infant Jesus. This is attributed to a miracle in which baby Jesus appeared to St. Anthony who was praying before the Blessed Sacrament in a small chapel.

Hammer of Heretics
St. Anthony was a tremendous speaker and teacher of the faith. So much so, that in 1946 the Church declared him a Doctor of the Church because of his ability to simplify the teachings of faith for ordinary people. He earned the monicker of Hammer of Heretics by putting these talents to great use in refuting heresy. While he was in Rimini, Italy, Anthony found the hearts of its citizens hardened by heresy; they would not listen to his preaching. Instead, he chose to preach at the banks of the sea to the fish. Schools of fish rose to surface to hear his preaching. The people of Rimini were moved to conversion by this miracle.

Patron of Lost Things
Today, he is often invoked as the patron of lost items. This devotion most likely originated as a result of story that holds that when Anthony was a teacher, he had a book of psalms that contained many of his notes. A novice who had determined to leave the order, stole the book and left. St. Anthony prayed for its return. Later the novice returned the book and re-entered the religious community.  Anthony is also patron of a number of other causes, including faith in the Blessed Sacrament.

Confirmation Names
In years past, many would be encouraged to take a saint name when they were confirmed. From what I can tell from reading some of the Catholic forums not many parishes are encouraging this pious action anymore. I was fortunate that in our little parish of St. Cecelia, when I was growing up, it WAS encouraged. I chose the name Anthony, because it was my Grandfather's name. I didn't know anything else about the St Anthony.

Patron Days

Finally, I want to take this opportunity to remind you of a family tradition we started a few years back. We celebrate Baptism Days and we celebrate Patron Saint Days. We don't do anything too extravagant, but, for example, for Stacey's day (St. Martha, July 29th), I took her out to lunch after Mass and then out for some gelato at Paciugo. I recommend you do the same in your family. It's a nice way to bring attention to the liturgy, nurture devotion to the saint and to just have an excuse to celebrate.

Guest Post: Making Room to be Still

Pilgrims

[Editor's Note: As part of the WordCount Blogathon, participants were encouraged to exchange guest posts with other bloggers.]

Walk - Build - Proclaim

Hello Joe Catholic Cyber Community. My name is Tracy and I am the author of Walk.Build.Proclaim. I was inspired by Pope Francis’ words to the Cardinals on March 14th, 2013, when he told them that their job was to Walk, Build and Proclaim. My blog looks at different ways that we as Christians are called to do this as well.

Making Room
I would like to start by saying how grateful I am that I was asked me to be a guest blogger on Joe Catholic. When I was told that this blog was about the universal call to holiness, my mind was racing with a million different ideas. What I finally settled on was writing about how we make room in our lives for God so we can hear and respond to the universal call of holiness. This reflection is based Psalm 4:1and my own experience drawing meaning from it.

Cleaning Tirade
The week of May 6th I was on a cleaning tirade in our house. It all started with the desire to take on one project that has eluded me for years. The major component to that project was, of course, at the bottom of the potential avalanche pile in a closet. That one project led to three days of sorting, washing, donating, walking down memory lane and throwing things out. I was on such a roll that I was able to sort, organize, donate and throw things out from a closet, three drawers, a storage area and three different kitchen cabinets.

Answer Me
It felt really good to do all of this, especially because this wasn't a project that I had started the week wanting to do. The project took on a life of its own. It wasn't until that Saturday, May 11th, that I figured out what had gotten into me. The answer was present in Psalm 4:1: "Answer me when I call, O God of my right! You gave me room when I was in distress."

An Opportunity to Make Room
Little did I know that I was being given the opportunity to make room for God in my life. You might think how can someone who spent seventeen years of their life /career working for a church not have enough room for God in their life? My answer is that physical-material things in your life can take up more space in your life than you are aware of. There is so much unseen maintenance that goes with having material things, it can almost be suffocating; not having that room can become a way of life.

Call to Holiness
Next time you're thinking about cleaning the basement, garage or closet, instead of that project being a daunting task on your "to-do" list, re-Read Psalm 4:1. Then, look at the project as a way of making a little bit more room in your life for God, as well as making some room to contemplate how you are going to answer the call to universal holiness.

Feel free to read more of Tracy's posts on Walk.Build.Proclaim. This week she has begun a series on women who are Red-Shoe Worthy. You may also join her on Facebook where they will begin sharing Francis’isms – quotations and reflections from Pope Francis’ daily homilies that inspire us to answer the call to universal holiness.

Cooperators of Opus Dei

From Opus Dei

St. Josemaria
You've probably noticed that I quote the writings of St. Josemaria quite often. This should have been a hint that I have some how been introduced to Opus Dei. For more on my encounter with St. Josemaria, I recommend reading my post entitled, My Life with the Saints. I hope to write a more detailed account on the feast day of St. Josemaria, June 26th.

Cooperators of Opus Dei
Despite those who say that Opus Dei is a secret society, the personal prelature has been very transparent in its use of social media. The main Opus Dei website already offers a great deal of resources about the role of the laity and answering the universal call to holiness. Recently, they added a new section devoted to Cooperators of Opus Dei. These are people, like me, who are not members of Opus Dei, but who participate in their formation activities (Evenings of Recollections, spiritual direction and retreats). We "cooperate" in the sense that we pray daily for the members of Opus Dei and we sometimes assist in various projects. For example, I have helped with a college prep program for high school boys. The new page contains a link to a new brochure explaining in greater detail who cooperators are and what they do. You can download the new brochure HERE.

What is Opus Dei?

The Beatitudes

Compliments
Today's Gospel reading contains the Beatitudes. Years ago one of the lead catechists at RCIA described the Beatitudes as the positive compliments to the 10 Commandments. What he meant was that the Beatitudes expand on the commandments by requiring us to act. This view is consistent with the teaching in the Catechism:

God put us in the world to know, to love, and to serve him, and so to come to paradise. Beatitude makes us "partakers of the divine nature" and of eternal life. With beatitude, man enters into the glory of Christ and into the joy of the Trinitarian life (CCC, 1721).

Navarre Commentary
According to the authors of the Navarre Study Bible the Beatitudes have a view for the kingdom of God:

All the Beatitudes have an eschatological meaning, that is, they promise us definitive salvation not in this world, but in the next. But the spirit of the Beatitudes does give us, in this life, peace in the midst of tribulation. The Beatitudes imply a completely new approach, quite at odds with the usual way man evaluates things: they rule out any kind of pharisaical religiosity, which regards earthly hap- piness as a blessing from God and a reward for good behavior, and unhappiness and misfortune as a form of punishment. In all ages the Beatitudes put spiritual goods on a much higher plane than material possessions. The healthy and the sick, the powerful and the weak, the rich and the poor – all are called, independently of their circumstances, to the deep happiness that is experienced by those who live up to the Beatitudes which Jesus teaches.

 Video Commentary

Receiving the Eucharist in an Unworthy Manner

Image from LifeTeen

Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a man examine himself, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For any one who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment upon himself. (1 Cor 11:27-29, RSV-CE)

Overview
St. Paul instructs the Church in Corinth to discern the body of Christ with respect when they received the body and blood of Our Lord in the Eucharist (1 Cor. 11:29). This passage can rightly be interpreted to mean that we need to be mindful of being properly disposed to receive the Eucharist, but it contains additional meanings. [Note: All of these scenarios, assume the person is a Catholic who has received the sacraments.]

Spiritual Disposition
Prior to receiving the Eucharist, one should be properly disposed. This happens in a couples of ways. First, we should approach the Eucharist in a prayerful and reflective manner. Additionally, we should examine our consciences to insure that we are in a state of grace – that we are free from mortal sin. If we are in a state of mortal sin, we should not receive Communion and immediately seek the sacrament of Reconciliation.  See Can. 916 and Can. 988 for a more extensive discussion of the elements.

The Eucharistic Fast
We are now required to abstain from food and drink one hour before the reception of Communion (Can. 919).  Note that the requirement is one hour before COMMUNION, not the start of Mass. We shouldn't make a habit of this minimalistic approach, but it is good to know if you are in a pinch. The fast does not include water or medication. Chewing gum prior to mass is NOT a violation of the fast (EWTN), but chewing gum during Mass is disrespectful. If you wouldn't (and you can't) chew gum in a court room, why would you do it in the Lord's house?

Discerning the Body of Christ
St. Paul is also teaching us (in 1 Cor. 11:29) to discern Christ in all those who make up his body and to treat them with the dignity they should be accorded. In other words, respect for Christ in the Eucharist has to be coupled with a respect for all mankind. The commentary from The Ignatius Catholic Study Bible New Testament supports this claim: 

Probably a word play on the term "body", which refers to the Eucharistic Body of Christ and to the ecclesial Body of Christ made up of believers united to him (10:16-17; 12:12). Recognizing Jesus in the Sacrament is thus coupled with recognizing him in our spiritual brothers and sisters (Mt 25:34-40). (The Ignatius Catholic Study Bible New Testament, 302). 

This lesson is supported by the teaching of the Second Vatican Council that asserted “by His incarnation the Son of God has united Himself in some fashion with every man” (Gaudim et spes, 22). Christ further teaches us that we are to follow in His footsteps of humility. We too are called to live lives of humility. Christ not only humbled Himself to become human and dying on the cross, but he also humbled Himself by taking on the form of bread. We must open ourselves to union with Christ in the Eucharist, allowing Him to transform us. “Sharing in the body and blood of Christ has no other effect than to accomplish our transformation into that which we receive” (Lumen Gentium, 26). As my mother used to say, “you are what you eat.” 

Eucharistic Prayer
I recall reading the following prayer. It sums up how we should be disposed to receiving our Lord in the Eucharist.

Lord, May I receive you like this is the first time, the last time and the only time I will receive you.

Immaculate Heart of Mary

Immaculate Heart of Mary, Melissa Breeland

Today the Catholic Church celebrates the Memorial of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. The feast is celebrated on the Saturday after the Second Sunday after Pentecost.

Origin
The feast grew out of the exisiting devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary

After the consecration of the world to the most sweet and motherly Heart of Mary in 1942, many petitions were sent to the Roman Pontiff asking him to extend to the whole Church the devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary that already existed in some places. Pius XII agreed in 1945 cenain to find in her most loving Hean ... the safe haven in the midst of the tempest that everywhere assails us. Through the symbol of her heart we venerate in Mary her most pure and perfect love for God and her motherly love for each one of us. In that heart of hers we can find a refuge in the midst of all the and temptations of life, and we ask her to prepare for us the safe way - iter para tutum - the way by which we will soon reach her Son (In Conversation with God, Vol. 6, p. 330)

Sweet & Immaculate Heart
St. Josemaria taught that we should "get accustomed to entrusting your poor heart to the Sweet and Immaculate Heart of Mary, so that she may purify it from so much dross, and lead it to the Most Sacred and Most Merciful Heart of Jesus" (Furrow, 830). This is what our Blessed Mother always does – leads us back to Jesus.


Blessed Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II prayed the following before the :

O Mother of all men and women, and of all peoples, you who know all their sufferings and their hopes, you who have a mother's awareness of all the struggles between good and evil, between light and darkness, which afflict the modern world, accept the cry which we, moved by the Holy Spirit, address directly to your Heart. Embrace with the love of the Mother and Handmaid of the Lord, this human world of ours, which we entrust and consecrate to you, for we are full of concern for the earthly and eternal destiny of individuals and peoples. In a special way we entrust and consecrate to you those individuals and nations which particularly need to be thus entrusted and consecrated. ‘We have recourse to your protection, holy Mother of God!' Despise not our petitions in our necessities. 

Sacred Heart of Jesus

Sacred Heart, Michael D. O'Brien

Origins
Today the Church celebrates the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The feast is held the Friday after the Second Sunday after Pentecost. We can trace the origin of the devotion back to the Middle Ages.

This devotion already existed in the Middle Ages as a private devotion; it appears as a liturgical feast in 1675 following the apparitions of Our Lord to Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque. In these revelations the saint was given to know with special depth the need to make reparation for her personal sins and for the sins of the whole world, and to respond to Christ's love. Our Lord asked her to extend the practice of frequent Communion, especially on the first Friday of every month, in a spirit of reparation. He asked for the first Friday after the octave of the Most Holy Sacrament to be dedicated to a special feast to glorify his Heart. The feast was celebrated for the first time on the 21 June 1686. Pius IX extended it to the whole Church. In 1928 Pius XI gave it the splendour it has today (In Conversation with God, Vol. 6. p. 315).

Devotion

We can consider the advise of St. Josemaria who explains how we should think about the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

[W]hen we talk about the heart of Jesus, we stress the certainty of God's love and the truth of his commitment to us. When we recommend devotion to the sacred heart, we are recommending that we should give our whole self to Jesus, to the whole Jesus — our soul, our feelings and thoughts, our words and actions, our joys. That is what true devotion to the heart of Jesus means (Christ is Passing By, 164) 

For a great overview of this solemnity, I suggest you watch the following video from the Apostleship of Prayer apostolate.

My Favorite Sacramentals

Sacred Signs
I wear three sacramental medals in addition to my Brown Scapular. The Catechism of the Catholic Church reminds us that sacramentals are instituted by the Church.

These are sacred signs which bear a resemblance to the sacraments. They signify effects, particularly of a spiritual nature, which are obtained through the intercession of the Church. By them men are disposed to receive the chief effect of the sacraments, and various occasions in life are rendered holy (CCC, 1667).

Three Medals – Holy Men of God
The three medals I wear on a simple leather cord include a papal medal of Pope John Paul II, a St. Josemaria Escriva medal and  St. Joseph the Worker. Each of these medals has particular significance to me and play a part in my morning prayers.

Pope John Paul II
The JP2 medal is a papal medal obtained in Rome and blessed by Pope John Paul II. The medal was given to me by one of my CRHP Brothers while we were going through formation. These last two years that I have been working no my IPT studies, I have often asked for Blessed John Paul II's intercession when I have been reading or writing on the documents of Vatican II.

St. Josemaria
This medal commemorates the canonization of St. Josemaria and to my knowledge is no longer available. I got mine years ago when I first began spiritual direction with a priest of Opus Dei. If you have read Joe Catholic for any length of time you know I have a great devotion to this saint of the ordinary. I ask him daily to pray for me to answer God's call to holiness in the ordinary circumstances of my life.

St. Joseph the Worker
This small medal is a reminder of this just and righteous man who protected and provided for the Christ child and Blessed Mother Mary. I turn to him daily to be my model and intercessor that I might be a better husband and father.

Not Good Luck Charms
These medals are not to be treated like some lucky coin or rabbit's foot; they are not good luck charms. In and of themselves, the sacramental objects possess no power. The significance of these items is drawn from the blessing, prayer and how they are utilized to draw us closer to God. Sacramentals should be used as daily reminders to live a life of virtue - answering the call to universal holiness, even in our own ordinary lives. I hope I have demonstrated this in how I use my medals in daily prayer. These sacramentals should draw us deeper into prayer and a life more reflective of Christ and His saints.

What are your favorite sacramentals? Why?

Top 5 Catholic Apps

I normally write about Catholic technology and social media as part of my Tuesday Tech Talk series. Today is the first of several theme writing days for the WordCount Blogathon so I am giving snapshot reviews on the Top 5 Catholic Apps I use the most often.

St. Josemaria - So I will tell you up front that this app is priced at $14.99, but is worth every penny. For those of you who participate in the formation activities of Opus Dei, the application contains a reminder for Daily Norms with links to various prayers and devotions. The app also includes EVERY book written by St. Josemaria (worth far more than $15 if bought separately) and the New Testament. It also includes a built ability to add your own prayers or ebooks as PDF's. The app also includes information about Opus Dei and St. Josemaria.

iBreviary- this app is available for FREE on iTunes. iBreviary was developed by an Italian priest, Father +Paolo Padrini who is known to follow Joe Catholic on occasion and is a consultant to the Vatican's Pontifical Council for Social Communications. The application essentially has three components: Liturgy of the Hours, the Daily Missal and the Catholic Prayers/Rituals. The application is available in five languages and several operating system platforms including Android, Blackberry and iOs (Apple). I most often use The Liturgy of the Hours also known as the Divine Office or Breviary. This is the "official prayer of the Church" (EWTN).  You have to sync the app daily or weekly to update the prayers.

iMissal - this app is the closest electronic version of the Roman Missal I have been able to find. It has all the Eucharistic Prayers, the Order of the Mass and all the readings. It lacks the ability to switch over to optional Feast Days, but often does provide choices for Holy Days of Obligation and Solemnities. The app has a Catholic news feed that links to Catholic News Agency. The designers of the app have added more prayers and an email subscription to get information about new developments in the app. Additionally, they have included the ability to purchase the Saint a Day app within iMissal.

Saint of the Day - this application was developed by American Catholic/St. Anthony Messenger. The material is derived from the book of the same name authored by Father Leonard Foley, OFM. The application is straight forward and allows you to search saints by name, cause and date. Additionally, the application has a short audio file link for each saint entry. There are also other features that connect the app to the American Catholic web with snippets.

 iPieta – Some of you may be familiar with the Pieta blue book that you see many people carrying with them, especially those who attend daily Mass. Like the paper version, iPieta contains a collection of traditional Catholic prayers, but this has much more than that. The application is organized into four categories: Bible, Calendar, Prayers and Veritas. I have written a more detailed review entitled iPieta: The Little Blue Book & More on Your Phone.

What are your favorite Catholic apps? Please write your answers in the Comments of Google+.

Year of Faith - Midway Checkpoint

Half-Way Point
We've long passed the half way point of the Year of Faith. What have you done either personally or through your parish to learn more about your Catholic faith?

If the answer is nothing or very little, there is still time to set out to consciously learn more about our rich Catholic faith. Here are some suggestions.

The Catechism
It is not too late for you to register to get the daily emails to read the Catechism in a year. Granted, you aren't going to be able to accomplish the complete reading without going back and reading archived posts, but you could start today. You can register to receive the daily emails at Flocknote. If reading the Catechism through the emails isn't to your liking, you could pick one of the main sections of the Catechism and read it. I would recommend reading Part One, The Profession of Faith.

Documents of Vatican II
You still have time to read some of the documents of Vatican II. I recommend the following:

• Lumen Gentium - Dogmatic Constitution on the Church
• Dei Verbum - Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation
• Apostolicam Actuositatem - Decree on the Apostolate of the Laity
• Gaudium et Spes - Pastoral Consitution on the Church in the Modern World
• Sacrosanctum Concilium - Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy

Despite what you may have heard or assumed, these are wonderful documents. One theologian described them as the "Christmas gift that has gone unopened." If you need a little help understanding them, you can listen to Father John Trigilio's EWTN show, Council of Faith: the Documents of Vatican II.